Eye-on-Retail Daily Tipsheet Archives

Giant Eagle confirms it’s eliminating about 350 positions by Tim Schooley at Pittsburgh Business Times.Read more

Amazon would have posted big loss if not for booming cloud business by Dan Richman at GeekWire. “…without AWS’s extra financial push, the company overall would have posted a $286 million operating loss, rather than a $575 million operating profit.”Read more

To Lure Plus-Size Shoppers, Meijer Will Scrap Plus-Size Department by Imani Moise at Wall Street Journal. “The concept, already in practice in 15 stores, will be rolled out to all 230 stores by early 2017. It means the majority of styles will be offered in everything from a size small to XXXL. “We really felt all customers should have the exact same experience at Meijer,” said Annette Repasch, vice president of Softlines.”Read more (subscription) | Press release

Students Have Breakfast with Home Depot CEO by De Castillo at Patch. “(Menear) emphasized how they are getting back to one of their core principles: developing and cultivating a strong culture among employees and customers…”Pics / Read more

Target’s Brian Cornell and HSN’s Mindy Grossman are among the speakers at Shoptalk 2017 List of speakers

Sears closing N.C. call center by 2017 by Katie Arcieri at Triad Business Journal.Read more

Macy’s Starts to Unload Stores in Deal With Major Mall Developer by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “The sale to GGP, whose larger rival Simon Property Group, has landed similar deals with various department stores, could also appease an activist shareholder, hedge fund Starboard Value.”Read more

Aeropostale discovers many stores are making money by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “Mall operator Simon kept 500 of Aeropostale’s 700 stores open — 200 more than first thought — after discovering those locations were in the black, Sandler O’Neill + Partners’ analyst Alexander Goldfarb wrote in a recent research report.”Read more

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Aldi sounds out PR agencies as it considers adding to roster by Sam Burne James at PR Week. “PRWeek understands that Aldi is particularly keen on firms to promote its food and baby products. The retailer did not specifically confirm or deny this.”Read more

Chobani’s founder draws threats for helping immigrants by David Gelles at NY Times via Boston Globe. “As (founder) Ulukaya has stepped up his advocacy — employing more than 300 refugees in his factories, starting a foundation to help migrants, and traveling to the Greek island of Lesbos to witness the crisis firsthand — he and his company have been targeted with racist attacks on social media.”Read more

Macy’s has a huge opportunity this holiday by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “We don’t believe the market fully appreciates just how bad fourth quarter 2015 was, specifically on the gross margin line,” Citi analyst Paul Lejuez echoed in a separate note to clients Monday.”Read more

Walmart pulls nude adolescents photo books from website by Charisse Jones at USA Today. “Last week, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, an anti-pornography organization, launched a petition to remove those and other books and magazines the group says are offensive.”Read more

After cutting its 500-person workforce in half, Porch focuses on profitability by Taylor Soper at GeekWire.Read more

Wal-Mart Sues Canned Tuna Cos. Over Price-Fixing Scheme by Y. Peter Kang at Law 360. “Wal-Mart lodged an antitrust suit in Arkansas federal court Monday accusing the three largest producers of packaged tuna products in the U.S. of conspiring to fix prices, adding to the legal woes of StarKist Co. and others already facing multidistrict litigation over similar claims.”Read more (subscription)

Public enemy No. 1 at your local CVS: Grandma and Grandpa by Julie Marsh & Kevin Sheehan at NY Post. “Seven discrimination lawsuits filed Monday against the pharmacy chain in courts across the city include the revelation that a CVS “Loss Prevention” handbook warns employees that senior citizens on a “fixed income” present a “special shoplifting concern.”Read more

It’s So Hard to Make Blue Jeans Without Nasty Chemicals by Lauren Coleman-Lochner at Bloomberg. “When it comes to materials, we’re at the very initial step, which is figuring out what the heck is actually in our products,” said Marty Mulvihill, a founder of the Berkeley Center and its former executive director. “A lot of companies are just completing that first step.”Read more